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Alabama Crimson Tide
The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball program has a history of being among the best of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It trails only Kentucky in basketball wins, SEC tournament titles, and SEC regular season titles in the 12-member conference. The team is coached by head coach Anthony Grant, who began with the Crimson Tide before the 2009-10 season. The men's basketball program rose in stature nationally during the 1990s. Under former coach Mark Gottfried, the team achieved a No. 1 national ranking briefly in 2003, and competed for a NCAA Regional Tournament Championship in 2004. The program was notable as a regular conference basketball contender in the 1980s and early 1990s under the direction of coach Wimp Sanderson and in the 1970s under coach C. M. Newton. Alabama has 8 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances. In the 2003-04 season, the men's team defeated a #1-seeded team in the NCAA tournament, and reached the Elite Eight round where they lost to the eventual national champion, Connecticut. History Former Coaches Former coaches with at least five years with the Crimson Tide include: C.M. Newton (1969–1980); Wimp Sanderson (1981–1992) - Alabama's winningest coach (69.2%); David Hobbs (1992–1998); Mark Gottfried (1998–2009). C. M. Newton In 1968, legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant called Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp looking for someone to turn around Alabama's basketball program. Rupp recommended C. M. Newton, a former backup player at Kentucky who had been at Transylvania University for 12 years.[http://www.ukalumni.net/ukalumni/pubs/pdf/RecognizableClass.pdf Recognizable Class - Published in Kentucky Alumnus] In twelve seasons at Alabama, Newton led the Tide to a record of 211-123. The Crimson Tide won three straight SEC titles under Newton (1974, 1975, and 1976), the only program besides Kentucky to accomplish this feat. Newton also guided Alabama to four NIT and two NCAA tournament berths, prompting the school to name a recruiting suite in his honor in 2006.C.M. Newton Recruiting Suite to be Dedicated Wednesday Just as he did at Transylvania, Newton recruited Alabama's first black player, Wendell Hudson, in 1969, integrating his second team in as many coaching stops.C. M. Newton Bio at the Basketball Hall of Fame Wimp Sanderson Newton resigned as head coach after the 1980-81 season to become assistant commissioner of the SEC. He was succeeded by his top assistant, Wimp Sanderson. He had been at Alabama since 1960 as a graduate assistant to Newton's predecessor, Hayden Riley; he was named a full-fledged assistant in 1961. In 12 years as head coach his teams averaged 21.8 wins a year, with a 267-119 record, and they won 4 SEC tournaments. They played in one NIT and eight NCAA tournaments making the "Sweet 16" five times. Sanderson is the only coach in Alabama history to win 200 or more games in his first 10 years. He was the SEC Coach of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and was the National Coach of the Year in 1987. Mark Gottfried Mark Gottfried served as the Crimson Tide's the head coach from the 1998-1999 season until mid-way through the 2008-2009 season. Gottfried played 3 seasons of basketball at Alabama under Wimp Sanderson, and the Crimson Tide advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in each of those seasons. He was hired by Alabama in March 1998 after coaching at Murray State for three seasons. The Crimson Tide achieved the highest pinnacle ever for the school in both the NCAA Championship Tournament and the Associated Press Poll reaching the Elite Eight in the tournament in 2004 and reaching the No. 1 spot in the nation in the AP poll in 2002, both under Mark Gottfried's command. Gottfried led the Tide to its only SEC Championship under his watch during the 2001-2002 season, although the team never won a conference tournament championship during his tenure. For his efforts in 2002, Gottfried was named SEC Coach of the Year by both the Associated Press and his fellow Southeastern Conference coaches. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment as coach at Alabama was leading the Crimson Tide to five consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2002–2006, another first for the school that occurred under his watch. Gottfried resigned on January 26, 2009 with 11 regular season games still remaining on the team's schedule. After Gottfried's resignation Athletic Director Mal Moore named long-time Alabama assistant and former player, Philip Pearson as interim head coach to serve out the remainder of the 2009 season. Anthony Grant On March 27, 2009 Anthony Grant agreed in principle to become the twentieth Crimson Tide head men's basketball coach. Grant came to Alabama after serving as the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University from 2006 to 2009. In his three years at VCU, Grant led the Rams to three straight regular season Colonial Athletic Association championships and two CAA tournament championships. Before his stint at VCU, Grant served as Billy Donovan's top assistant for 12 years at Marshall and Florida, helping the Gators to their first-ever national championship. Fan support Mark's Madness Mark's Madness was a student organization named after former Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried. It was created by a group of Alabama students in January 2000 in an attempt to create a more exciting atmosphere in Coleman Coliseum. Alabama’s home record spoke for itself. During the Gottfried era, the Crimson Tide was an astounding 137-27 (.835) in Coleman Coliseum. "Mark's Madness" was the largest student organization on campus during its time. The end of Mark Gottfried's tenure also meant the end of Mark's Madness. Crimson Chaos After Coach Anthony Grant was hired, a group of senior students approached the UA Marketing Department in the summer 2009 about resurrecting the student section. During the first exhibition game of the 2009 season, it was announced that the new name of the student organization for supporting Alabama basketball would be "Crimson Chaos". As Crimson Chaos entered its second year, it officially registered as a University of Alabama student group and adopted a new format. In addition to supporting Men's Basketball, Crimson Chaos is expanding to all University of Alabama sports, being the official student group of Athletics at The University of Alabama.http://store.cstv.com/store_contents.cfm?store_id=485&product_id=185922 The group also tried new things to make the atmosphere in Coleman Coliseum as intimidating as it was in previous years. These changes included the addition of the Roll Tide Roller Coaster.Roll Tide Roller Coaster Crimson Chaos' newly-created environment helped the Tide complete a undefeated season at home (2010-2011), with a 16-0 record, including wins over then #12 Kentucky, Georgia, and rival Mississippi State.http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/23/sec-conference Players Current Tide players ) |asst_coach= * Dan Hipsher ( ) * John Brannen ( ) * Tony Pujol ( ) |accessdate=2010-07-25 }} For 2010-2011 season, from RollTide.com"2010-11 Alabama Men's Basketball Roster." rolltide.com. Retrieved on July 28, 2010. Former players Alabama has seen its stars go on to win nine NBA Championships, six All-Star selections, six All-Defensive Team honors, three All-Rookie honors and more than $390 million in career earnings in the NBA. All told, Alabama players have gone on to suit up in nearly 10,000 NBA games and scored more than 90,000 all-time points. Tide Alumni currently in the NBA Source: Rolltide.com Tide Alumnus list Other notable players * Keith Askins * Jason Caffey * Jermareo Davidson * Mike Davis * Leon Douglas * Erwin Dudley * Mark Gottfried * Richard Hendrix * Robert Horry * Wendell Hudson * Buck Johnson * Reggie King * James Robinson * Latrell Sprewell * Ronald Steele * Ennis Whatley * Kennedy Winston All-time record vs. current SEC teams |} NCAA tournament Alabama has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 19 times. They reached the Sweet Sixteen eight timesAlabama's records for the 1987 tournament were vacated by the NCAA. and the Elite Eight once in 2004. Alabama has an overall NCAA Tournament record of 20–19. * Received a first round bye in 1982. NIT Results Alabama has appeared in 11 National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 20–13. All-time leaders Individual Points Field Goals Made Free Throws Made Three-Pointers Made Scoring Average Field Goal Percentage Free Throw Percentage Three-Point Percentage Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Arena Information The Crimson Tide basketball team practices and plays in Coleman Coliseum, 15,043-seat multi-purpose arena on the UA campus in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The arena was built for $4.2 million and opened in 1968 as a replacement for the aging Foster Auditorium. A renovation in 2005 led to additional seating being added. The arena now officially seats 15,314 people. Coleman Coliseum was named for Jefferson Jackson Coleman, a prominent alumnus. Until his death, in 1995 he was the only person that had attended every Alabama bowl game, starting with the Rose Bowl game on 1926 January 1. Prior to 1990, the building was known as Memorial Coliseum. Conference membership history All-time records External links *School website *Official athletics website Category:NCAA Division I schools Category:Southeastern Conference members Category:Schools in Alabama Category:SEC West Division members